


Soul for a Soul

by screamingarrows



Series: Soul Stone 'verse [1]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Spoilers, Fix-It
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-09
Updated: 2018-08-04
Packaged: 2019-05-04 14:30:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,558
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14595060
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/screamingarrows/pseuds/screamingarrows
Summary: She wakes.





	1. Chapter 1

“This isn’t love,” Gamora says. She knows this like it’s the most concrete thing in the universe— and maybe it is. She knows love. She’s felt it. Love is Drax’s laugh, is Rocket’s complaints and the rustle of Groot’s branches. Love is the way Peter looks at her. Love is the way they protect each other, follow each other, pledge their lives to each other for no reason, no motive. 

Thanos grabs her arm and she fights back, because he knows love with a certainty and she knows it’s something she had to learn on her own. 

She’s tossed off the cliff and she thinks of nothing but them. She remembers the way they danced and bopped and sang to Peter’s music. She remembers the way they bickered amongst each other before someone pulled out the food and all was well again. She remembers loving, and being loved in return. 

She hits the ground with so much love in her chest, so much regret, so much  _oh please be safe_ , it explodes out of her. 

It explodes out of her in shades of every sunset she’s ever seen.

And then,

Darkness.

 

 

It’s a terrifying feeling when she comes to consciousness. Terrifying, because she wasn’t  _unconscious_. Terrifying because she seems to be everywhere and no where. She’s being stretched, but compressed; there’s no air or maybe there’s too much, regardless she can’t breathe, but that doesn’t seem to matter. 

“Hello?” she calls out. No sound leaves her lips, but the question echoes around her. A calm settles over her and she looks around. She thinks her eyes are getting used to the darkness before she realizes that it’s actually getting brighter. 

The sky turns red, burnt orange like a sunset on fire. She sees her hands and sees she’s grey, washed of any color. 

“Where am I?” she asks, or tries to. She can’t make a sound, but still, they’re echoed around her. 

A voice answers in her head, but it’s not a voice. More a feeling. An instinct.  _You know where you are_. 

In the distance there’s a shelter; a space of four poles and a roof. She sees nothing but the shimmery reflection of water around her. With no other plan in mind, she begins to walk. 

 

 

The shelter is close when she hears a voice. It’s high, childlike. 

“Can you do it?” the voice asks and Gamora opens her mouth to question who’s speaking when someone else answers first. Thanos’ deep, terrifying voice echoes across the space. 

“Yes, Little One,” he says and she growls, wishes she had a blade to protect herself. Something inside of her wants to protect the child, although she knows that’s not possible. 

A sense of urgency and panic floods through her and she can’t explain why, but she breaks into a sprint. It’s important that she reaches the shelter. She knows it is. The Stone demands she be at the shelter. 

 

 

Her feet hit the platform and suddenly the world is shaking apart. Faces flash by in the sky. Hundreds of thousands of millions. 

 _He’s won_ , she thinks as a horrifying, gut-wrenching pain overtakes her.  _He’s won_. 

 _No,_ a not-voice answers back _. No he hasn’t._

She looks up and on instinct, reaches out, hands outstretched towards the sky painted with murder. At her command, they freeze, and then they vibrate, buzzing with the urge to disappear into a void. 

She can’t let that happen. 

With everything she has, she wills them to stay. To find a place within this vast Stone and to be safe. 

She refuses to let Thanos win anymore. She. Refuses. 

Her will is stronger than his. 

The souls drift ever closer and her body shakes with the effort of keeping them tethered. 

He cannot win.

He will not win. 

The souls land safely on the surface of the Stone. Their feet splash in the water. They’re safe. 

 _This is love_ , she thinks as she falls to her knees and into darkness. 


	2. Chapter 2

“What the hell is this place!”

Gamora wakes with a start. Her head aches and the world around her is far too loud, but one voice in particular resonates within her.

“Peter—,” another voice says. Her head _hurts_. She squints her eyes open and orange sky burns her eyes. The world’s too loud; was she in a fight? Is that why she’s in so much pain? Drax has to be nearby, his voice was much softer than Peter’s, and she knows instinctively she has nothing to fear when they’re near, but still she tries to open her eyes again.

“Drax?” she calls out, “Peter?”

“Gamora?” Drax says and she can feel his hands on her.

“What’s going on?” she asks through gritted teeth. She feels for a blade on her hip but all she feels is water.

“You are alive!” Drax says and she frowns. Of course she’s—

She sits up quickly, nearly colliding her head into Drax’s.

“You’re here.”

“Yes! Peter, too!”

Her heart clenches and despite the absolute despair she feels at the thought of him dying, she’s relieved he’s _here_.

“Peter! Peter, over here!” Drax’s voice is like knives in her head and she recoils, eyes falling into a squint, but she hears rapid footsteps approaching and she tries to push herself to her feet. Drax’s hands are on her arms, guiding her up and providing much needed support.

It’s amazing, how easily she can accept their help. She hadn’t realized how much she’s grown until she’d been in her father’s presence.

“ _Gamora_?”

She looks up at her name and sees Peter’s stumbled to a stop. Her stomach twists at the look on his face and she feels tears burn her eyes even as a smile forces her lips up. Before she can say anything, he’s taking off at a run towards her and then she’s in his arms. He presses his face into her neck and her arms find their way around him.

He’s trembling against her. His beard, needles pressing into her skin, and she raises a hand to cup his neck, to touch the soft hairs curling around her fingers there. She realizes her hand is green again, vibrant against the brown of his hair, the white of his skin. At her touch, he presses his face harder into her, hiding his face in her shoulder and hair like a child.

She glances up and sees Drax watching them; she quirks an eyebrow and he throws himself at her, taking the side not currently occupied by Peter’s face and his laugh is loud and breathless.

Their reaction can only mean Thanos told them what happened to her.

“I’m here,” she says, voice soft. She can feel Peter take a deep breath against her and Drax laughs again.

“You’re here!”

She smiles at him and Peter pulls away. Tears clump his eyelashes and when he looks at her, she feels emotions course through her.

She loves him. So much.

“Drax?”

Mantis’ voice interrupts her before she can say anything and she turns to look over her shoulder, where Drax is looking.

Mantis is standing next to Groot, the two of them standing so close together they look like they’re afraid they’d be separated. One of Groot’s thin vines winds around her arm and Mantis is gripping his branches with a white-knuckled grip. She lets go when she sees Gamora turn and Groot’s whip-like vine retreats back.

“I am Groot!”

“Gamora!” Mantis says and runs to her. She hesitates as she approaches, but Gamora throws open her arms and Mantis falls into them. She grabs at Gamora and tears fall from her eyes.

“I’m so happy,” Mantis says, voice thick. “You’re really here.”

“I’m really here,” Gamora confirms and wipes at the tears streaking Mantis’ face.

“I am Groot!” Groot reaches out and grabs the two of them, pulling them to his body and wrapping his branches around them. “I am Groot!”

“I don’t know,” Gamora says and she relaxes into the branches, letting Groot be protective of her. “I think we’re in the soul stone. 

“I am Groot.”

“Language,” she warns and feels weak with relief at even being able to make the simple joke again. She feels amazed and vindicated because she was right. Thanos was wrong. She beat him; even if it’s not in a way he expects.

“I am Groot.”

She smiles and he lets her down. Mantis lets her go and Peter is at her side in an instant. He’s hovering at her side and she reaches out, grabs his hand and feels the way he’s still trembling in his arms.

“Where’s Rocket?” she asks, looking around for their final member. Peter’s wide-eyed as he looks around and mirrors his question, his voice taking on a desperate tone. She hates to think she did that to him—that Thanos caused him any amount of heartache.

“I am Groot.”

“He’s on Earth?” Peter asks, looking to stare at Groot.

“I am Groot.” Gamora’s heart races at the thought of Rocket, alone.

“We’ll get to him.” She says, voice hard and confident. She looks around at the people surrounding them, reuniting and embracing each other in fear and confusion. “We’re going to get out of here. We’re going to stop him.”

She’s glad none of them asked how; they just look to her with serious faces and nod.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> anyways im on vacation and couldnt stop thinking about how badly i need a guardians reunion so! here we are! hope you liked it! im not super comfortable writing the guardians bc i never really have before but! i dont think it's too shabby! let me know what you think :) 
> 
> and i turned this into a series because i have an idea involving bucky and peter which will lead to winteriron in a different fic, but i wanted the background of the first chap there, so i've turned it into a series :) 
> 
> as always, unbeta'd and written far too quickly so if there are any mistakes let me know! you can find me at screamingarrows.tumblr.com if you wanna chat!

**Author's Note:**

> There is sooooo much I'm unhappy with tbh so I had to just throw my two cents into a fix-it fic. It will be a cold day in hell before I accept that Thanos actually loved Gamora and that the stone accepted that. My little hc is that it was _her_ love that was given up and with her sacrifice, she can keep the others safe. I'm thinking I will end up expanding on this, exploring the idea a bit more but I just wanted some attention and feedback so thought I'd post it here! Not beta'd and written on my phone in like, 30 minutes, so if it's terrible, be kind  <3


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